How Putin Played the Far Left

[Cattledog]

Backing Donald Trump’s candidacy, via steady leaks of stolen communiques to organizations like WikiLeaks, was but one prong of the Kremlin’s assault on American liberal democracy. Part of its campaign to vilify Hillary Clinton involved catering to her rivals on the far-left and pushing any number of crankish conspiracy theories that appeal as much to “anti-imperialists” as to neo-Nazis.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/13/how-putin-played-the-far-left.html

[JI7]

1. i think many of them have always been conspiracy theorists and not really leftists at all

i have noticed this through the years. the internet has made it easier for them to gather and spew to others also.

the people i meet who are actually working on liberal causes in the community never talk the way these people do.

[Hortensis]

16. Extremists come in both left and right-wing flavors, JI7.

In fact, social scientists say they share a lot of important characteristics, with a handful of differences. A predisposition to conspiracy thinking is common to both, a frequent manifestation of radical/reactionary/extremist personality, the stronger the traits the more likely.

It's very unfortunate, and in many cases not at all accidental, I'm sure, that media personalities are so sloppy about describing people on the farther left who think and react in extremist patterns as "liberals." Liberals are different (and notably we are as far as you can get from right-wing extremists, NO strong common characteristics). Pretending il-liberal radicals are liberals is disinformation that lowers respect for liberals and liberalism.

(Or to put that last another way, there really IS a giant international conspiracy to make people despise liberals.)

[mountain grammy]

33. Very true!

[Blanks]

82. Saturday night live...

[FSogol]

44. I run into people like them from time to time. They show up to one event or meeting, spew some

nonsense, and get mad that they aren't put in charge or that we don't change everything to suit them. They never come back.

[OKNancy]

2. Good article!

Those of us who are the pragmatic left need to read and make sure these people are not a center of any power now or in the future.

[Kahuna7]

8. What you said.

[BlueCaliDem]

61. Exactly.

[Cha]

3. Oh yeah, so easy

[tomp]

4. HOGWASH! SLANDER! nt.

[baldguy]

23. You think Sanders didn't benefit in any way from Russia's attacks on Clinton?

Do tell.

[Dustlawyer]

37. If yopu are labeling Sanders as "Far Left" you would be mistaken.

His policies are mainstream and he currently has the support of the established Democrats in Congress.

Sanders didn't go for the easy email conspiracy, in fact he was criticized for not doing so by many in the media. Let's not start this again please.

[KittyWampus]

42. #1. The Democratic Party is using Sanders because they have to.

#2. Sanders went for the "Crooked Hillary Speeches" conspiracy
#3. It's Sanders approach to politics and the Democratic Party that prove he is "Far Left"

He's spent decades in Congress attacking the Democratic Party as a whole for not reflecting his own ideological purity.

[karynnj]

91. To my knowledge, Sanders never used the phrase "crooked Hillary" -- he called for her to

release the transcripts, which she had, to the Goldman/Sachs speeches. It is possible that had she immediately done that - that might have been some angered that she was friendly and praised the audience, but if what she said behind closed doors was the same as what she was saying in public at that point in time, it would have diffused that issue and actually COUNTERED that she was either dishonest or too secretive.

Instead, some transcripts came out in the general election via wikileaks - they were then used by Trump highlighting that she was relatively positive on TPP. Had she just released them when Sanders and others demanded, that would have been easy to explain -- the talks were in 2013/2014 and it was already known that she was positive in 2011/2012.

Of course, it might have been better not to give closed door speeches to Wall Street as you are preparing to run for President when for at least since 2008, Wall Street was toxic politically.

Sanders is the left most Senator -- and he represents his state well. He has the highest approval numbers in the Senate - and it is NOT true that over 80% of Vermont is far left!

[Dustlawyer]

121. Thats why they let him caucus with them for 25 years and had him heading committees.

[LaydeeBug]

49. Hold *UP*. SANDERS describes Sanders as far left. He is anti0-establishment, not

mainstream, even though they would help the most people in the mainstream.

[nikto]

118. Exactly

[MythosMaster]

46. I believe you are the one who has to explain...

why you think this...

[LaydeeBug]

51. see post #35

[MythosMaster]

99. the unnammed far left

boogeyman?

Yeah, I will stick to blaming the US corporate media.

[LaydeeBug]

100. It wasn't exactly unnamed...but whatever floats your boat.

[MythosMaster]

101. So is Jill Stein and RT the new

George Soros and the LIE-beral media?

[sweetloukillbot]

102. Jill Stein WAS involved in meetings with Michael Flynn and Putin in Moscow...

[tomp]

106. i don't even know what the question means.

by raising this issue you are attacking the most progressive political movement in the country. why anyone would bring sanders into this mess is beyond me. you should be spending your time attacking trump, not sanders. everything else at this point is bullshit.

how does attacking sanders at this point do anything positive? the only thing i can think is that you intend to weaken the most progressive group in american politics today, and you will note I did not say "far left." that term is mostly used these days to attack progressives, i.e., anyone to the left of the neo-liberal clintons, et al., as i think it is being used in this thread. and that is bullshit.

[baldguy]

108. Because Sanders still thinks he's running for President against Clinton & the Democratic Party

And totally ignores the fact that A) He lost, and B) Clinton is the most progressive major candidate for President America has has in a couple generations.

Anyone who fell for Russia's attack's on Clinton should be ashamed of themselves and beg for forgiveness. Especially those who claim to be liberals and progressives.

[tomp]

110. clinton more progressive than sanders?

you're out of your mind. no point talking to you.

[baldguy]

111. Sanders wasn't a major party candidate. *** H E . L O S T . T H E . P R I M A R I E S ! ! ***

Clinton haters & Democrat haters are un-fucking-believable.

[uponit7771]

58. More probable than the Russians did ... NOT ... hack state and local electoral boards

[KG]

5. I lulz'd. again.

hippie punching. it never goes out of style. anything to keep from looking in the mirror.

[tecelote]

6. Yep.

"anything to keep from looking in the mirror."

Exactly.

[nikto]

11. yep II

[nikto]

10. Agreed

[BainsBane]

17. Perhaps you ought to think about how you consume information

And what you choose to believe and spread. The OP didn't mention hippies, and they are not synonymous with the left. I can't imagine a mentality that conceives of the left in such narrow and stereotypical terms. Leftism is not about style and consumption, which your reference to hippies assumes. Moreover, you are deflecting the point. Anti-Clinton people across the political spectrum consumed and spread Russian propaganda. Rather than making baseless claims about "hippie punching," try to learn from the experience rather than claiming persecution because someone points out a fact. Unless of course you are happy to engage in the propagation of Russian propaganda aimed toward installing far-right wing government throughout Europe and the US.

[KG]

18. nice try, but your little snide remarks aside, those that objected to HRC didn't need

russian propaganda, her record is a matter of public record.

[baldguy]

24. Objections to Clinton were based entirely on propaganda.

Remove the spin, and there's nothing left to object to.

[BlueCaliDem]

63. Thank you! Sheesh...some people just refuse truth when it makes them feel

uncomfortable.

[DanTex]

35. It is true that a lot of the anti-Hillary left was already pro-Putin before the propaganda.

Witness Jill Stein cozying up to him and Flynn at the RT event, for example. Or for that matter, the other far-leftists that happily broadcast on RT. And before that, lots of far-lefties were making excuses for Putin's actions in Ukraine.

Like the article says, the anti-western sentiment of the far-left leads to a sort of "enemy of my enemy" effect where they embrace anyone that doesn't like the US, whether it's Putin or Assad or Gadafi. I remember, before the trolls were banned, people were posting here about how wonderful life was in Libya under Gadafi.

But Putin's propaganda definitely helped stoke those already-present feelings.

[LaydeeBug]

50. this. nt

[BlueCaliDem]

64. This! + 1000 - k&r eom

[Cha]

52. Well done, B. Excellent!

[KittyWampus]

41. Sanders supporters weren't hippies. And posting facts about the past Democratic party

Primary really shouldn't be shunned by DU'ers.

We all saw what went down on DU and other liberal forums.

And don't try and gaslight us into believing there was no 'Bernie Bro' behavior happening here and all over the internet and real life.

There were many, many examples of people getting hate mail and threats from supposed Sanders supporters.

Was it extremist-Lefties, garden variety trolls or paid trolls? I don't know the mix.

Pretending it didn't exist is silly.

[otohara]

87. Not Easily Going Forget The Lefty Campaign of Hate

towards Hillary and Democrats...the hateful memes lies they around like wildfire is the reason we have this madman. The lefty media reinforced their hate with daily HATE-HER articles.

Cheering when the DNC was hacked by Russians was deplorable.

[nini]

78. I'm glad you could start your day amused

Now you should look in the mirror yourself.

[OnionPatch]

85. My first thought

They just keep punching those hippies and then wonder why more don't vote for them.

[nikto]

119. Apparently, it is a very difficult concept for some to grasp ...

"Sheesh ... I punch you every day. Why don't you like me?

[DetlefK]

7. After what I've seen here on DU, this sounds entirely credible.

The reflexive hatred towards western institutions... Everything western gets summarily declared as a part of western imperialism...

Just an example:
There was a discussion here where DUers desperately tried to declare the EU some kind of imperialistic behemoth. Their evidence?
The US is big, corrupt and evil.
The EU is big.
Therefore the EU is corrupt and evil.

[Akamai]

55. Well, many of Bernie's issues resonated greatly with voters,

including focusing on climate change, dumping TPP, income inequality, single payer health plan, financial re-regulation, getting the money out of politics, etc., etc.

Those remain huge issues for most progressives, I believe.

Take a look at the current HuffPo piece: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-is-shifting-the-democratic-establishment_us_587816a1e4b0e58057fe0f5f

[flamingdem]

79. A lot of this comes from a history of extreme US Imperialism and the Left had to deal with that

So don't forget - Reagan Nixon Bush - we're not so pure in the USA.

There are reasons to doubt and seek alternative viewpoints. Many Europeans criticize the USA that way, it's mainstream to do so there. We don't look so good from other locations. Being on the left in general means being critical but this author is trying to create a general theory, you can tell he's young, there's history to be considered.

[yardwork]

98. And throwing around words like Oligarchs!!!111

[nikto]

9. Neoliberalism's passive-aggressive side

[BainsBane]

19. The OP states an established fact

Putin targeted Sanders supporters and used online trolls in an effort to install a far right government in the US. They targeted the so-called left as part of their covert operation to install Trump in power. Russian propaganda was and is frequently used. You can choose not to care. The only question is if you care enough to reflect on that or prefer to deflect responsibility and instead do the work of the far right. True, they are not "neoliberal;" they are fascists. If you consider fascist authoritarianism superior to liberal democracy, keep it up.

Your buzzwords are passé. That you continue to invoke them tells me you have no idea what this country is facing, and you may not even know what neoliberalism means.

If people are unwilling to examine their own role in what led to our current nightmare, they make themselves part of the problem, now and in the future.

[betsuni]

22. +1

[Dustlawyer]

39. See post 37.

[KittyWampus]

43. I just destroyed your post #37.

[melman]

47. 'If people are unwilling to examine their own role in what led to our current nightmare'

[img][/img]

[ehrnst]

31. Apparently anything the doesn't meet the manifesto of Bernie is now dissed as "neoliberal" or

"identity politics."

[Cha]

53. They have nothing but insults.. can't handle the fact that

the "far left got suckered by putin". I've actually seen that happen.

[ehrnst]

57. I saw so many RT articles posted by Bernie or Busters

They dissmissed me as "red baiting" when I pointed out that RT is Putin owned and Putin run, and no matter the Journo, it is the propaganda tool of Putin.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/08/putin-rt-soviet-propaganda-121734

[Cha]

60. They do have their little buzzwords to deflect.

[flamingdem]

81. This article reminds us that we need less partisan, less corporate media

so that our progressives don't turn to RT to be heard.

MSNBC is foxing out with their Greta Van Susteran hiring.

What are we to do without resources to compete with the behemoths?

That's why some progressives turn to RT, they're not all bad but they need to return to the fold, and we need a place for them to work.

[ehrnst]

83. Russian propaganda has no place in our information stream.

I listen to NPR, BBC, and will accept information from the NYT and Washington Post, and Kaiser Health News as being properly vetted.

We can't just reject solid journalism because it doesn't play to our biases. USUNCUT, and other left wing clickbait is equally bad to share.

[DanTex]

36. The unintended irony in you post is pretty funny.

[nikto]

12. What's next---"The far left stabbed us in the back"?

[KG]

13. is that the 'far left' they claim they don't need to win elections?

[nikto]

14. Uh huh. No problem---They attract Romney GOPers by the legions!

[HughBeaumont]

29. +1,000.

And, of course, they'll learn absolutely nothing at all from 2016.

[dflprincess]

112. I believe it is

and the same "far left" that always gets blamed when they lose.

[Sherman A1]

34. Probably

just pass that .

[LanternWaste]

90. I doubt it... as the former is accurate and the latter is simplistic melodrama

I doubt it... as the former is an accurate analysis while the latter is merely simplistic melodrama used merely to validate (and further illustrate) a self-serving bias.

However, I understand your need to hold onto that bias and place blame on any analysis which doesn't fit your narrative (and the rationalize that is is anything but that soon to come).

[HopeAgain]

15. Question -

were any of the Wikileaked Podesta emails proven to have been falsified? not taking a side, just asking a question.

[jimlup]

20. Seems the title is a little off

I don't get the "far left" part. Putin played the right as far as I can see.

[ehrnst]

32. Anti-Hillary trolls targeted "young white educated left wing voters"

as per the summary of the dossier.

[DanTex]

40. The far left may not have gotten "played", per se, because a large portion of it

was already pro-Putin because of their disdain for the west. But whatever you want to call it, the far left did bite at Russian propaganda. In fact, even now, far-lefties are denying that Russia had anything to do with the DNC and Podesta hacks.

[KG]

62. it wasn't a far-leftist that shot-up a pizza parlor.

[ehrnst]

67. No one said it was. And yes even here on DU, RT was touted as "truth telling"

There were people who couldn't understand why we "had it in for RT" which is the Putin run, putin approved propaganda arm:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=156338


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2205139


http://www.democraticunderground.com/101692258#post20

[betsuni]

21. K&R

[Vinca]

25. I consider myself far left and the Hillary stories meant nothing to me.

I just preferred Bernie. It's that simple. I ended up voting for Hillary, of course, but to accuse people on the far left of being Putin pawns is insulting.

[ehrnst]

68. Some in the far left, not all. Some right here on DU

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=156338


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2205139


http://www.democraticunderground.com/101692258#post20

[nikto]

120. Yeah, ya' think?

[baldguy]

26. Anyone who fell for Russias attacks on Clinton should be ashamed of themselves.

Instead we see them defending those attacks. How is this different from Trump, again?

[SidDithers]

27. DU rec...

10 minutes at the Jackass Deplorable site, reading posts from former DUers, will absolutely confirm the premise of the OP.

Sid

[ehrnst]

28. They particularly targeted "white, educated young voters" for anti-Hillary messages

according to the briefing document.

And did they EVER swallow that bait.

[Act_of_Reparation]

48. A very compelling theory.

Of course, it would be more compelling if the numbers actually backed it up. Details, AMIRITE?

[ehrnst]

69. The dossier didn't give numbers. But there were plenty here on DU that were RT fans:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1280211827


http://www.democraticunderground.com/101692258#post15

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=156338


http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1251&pid=2205139


http://www.democraticunderground.com/101692258#post20

[otohara]

94. They Sure Did

Saw it with my own eyes when I was still on Facebook - I was friends with about 49 white college educated millennials. They are friends with my son who is mostly not white. I started to dislike them so I signed off for a few months to avoid the bullshit memes and getting into fights with them trying to debunk the lies.

Post primary they were still raging and vowing not to vote for Hillary.

I will never go back to Facebook after witnessing the "progressive" campaign that led us to this nightmare.

[get the red out]

30. I voted for Hillary

I did not believe any of the outlandish conspiracy theories against her. BUT, behind the scenes manipulations exist and always have. I think we should be careful not to throw information that comes from sources other than M$M out as "conspiracy theories". I won't believe something just because it appears on FB, but this world is complicated. The Kremlin's helping Trump is one such piece of information. It was a long time before it even began to be addressed at all properly in the M$M.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

38. Putin is not your friend.

[FSogol]

45. K & R. n/t

[Tommy_Carcetti]

54. Unfortunately I remember it here at DU well during the Russian incursion into Ukraine.

We had several posters left and right citing RT and all sorts of Russian state media as gospel to cast the Russian government as blameless. We had links to formerly reputable journalists who appear to have been compromised, like Robert Parry, backing up Russian actions and decrying the US and Western positions.

One former DUer--I'll just say her name rhymes with "Blatherina"--was especially notorious about posting pro-Putin propaganda on DU, all while bashing us the same on her Twitter page.

[melman]

89. Well there's at least one still here

The one who always posts about 'M$Greedia'. That particular person was extremely pro-Putin/Russia on that issue.

[JHan]

56. Interesting read. In my experience..

As a former "hillary hater" or someone who for the most part was very lukewarm towards her, bad press and propaganda about Hillary follows you everywhere, you can't escape it. Whether you're in a check-out line, listening to the radio, browsing youtube videos, or reading political blogs. It finds you, even when you're not looking for it. In this climate, it wasn't difficult for propagandists to swiftboat her relentlessly.

For me, it was only until midway in the primaries something clicked and I decided to learn more about her when I realised she would be the democratic nominee. And I willed myself to begin my research by not starting with my assumptions about her, but with a blank slate. I watched speeches, I read biographies -both good and bad- , I searched for facts, I read investigatory conclusions of all the scandals, I paid closer attention to her and her record. I sought to understand her centrism, I read profiles of her from friends and foes, democrats and republicans who worked with her. It was a lot of work and I ended up coming away with a person who I could support enthusiastically, a far cry from the caricature in the press.

And I became less dogmatic. I understood there are issues where I may lean more to the center than left, that I am not a two dimensional voter, that new information may lead me to change my mind and that's okay, in fact new information should do that.. because the alternative is to wallow in dogmatism and bullheadedness, even when wrong

We have a responsibility, whether on the left or right, to make the effort to learn more about candidates, We won't get help from the media half the time, because it suits their purposes to sensationalise stories never mind who gets hurt. That Hillary despises the media ( for good reason in some instances) didn't help her. But it's up to us to not be duped by nonsense.

[bravenak]

74. I had a similar experience in coming to Hillary's team

[bullwinkle428]

109. You'll eventually learn that this kind of thoughtful discourse and

nuanced examination of multiple avenues is often frowned upon in this establishment!

[JHan]

116. lol

[ismnotwasm]

59. Yeah well

It was clear when the self-purported "far left" linked to RT like it was a holy book.

[grossproffit]

66. Sputnik too.

[etherealtruth]

65. Nobody likes to be played ... Putin played a large swath of the American public

Folk on the right, the left and the center were played ... Putin is an expert doing this and he does it because it works.

Instead of getting defensive ("i wasn't played" ... "it didn't effect my vote&quot it is time we learn to effectively defend against this.

On an other subject we let the right wing define the ACA and did not effectively defend against the misinformation .... and here we are again

[PDittie]

70. Wow

That author is still blaming Jill Stein. Not to mention The Nation and Wikileaks.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

80. Would your opinion change if it was traditional mail and not electronic mail that was stolen?

[emulatorloo]

104. In otherwords, you don't give a shit about free and fair elections

Apparently foreign interference is no big deal to you.

[PDittie]

117. In other words

your ad hominem has been alerted.

[emulatorloo]

122. Not an ad hominem. Your 'meme' indicates you are totally cool with foreign interference

in our election.

[LeftInTX]

71. The Nation?????

Oh crap!!!

I don't subscribe, but I read articles. I always thought they were credible.

[flamingdem]

75. They are, but their history includes a period of time when socialism

was vilified in the United States. They need to catch up and rebalance. Putin is NOT cool.

[LeftInTX]

76. He certainly isn't progressive!

[WhiteTara]

72. The Stein voters ignored the picture of her

with Putin...somehow that just made her more appealing.

[Baitball Blogger]

73. If there was this much forethought in trolling progressives, then it's very possible that the

Russians took down DU on election day.

[flamingdem]

77. Putin / RT certainly has a lot of lefties on its payroll - Earth to Ed Schultz!

He must be having regrets though he does now have a private plane at his disposal.

[hunter]

84. I'm further left than most people here on Democratic Underground.

I've also got some rather extreme opinions as an environmentalist. And I'm a pacifist.

Okay, so I may be some kind of Luddite, but my politics are entirely practical. I believe Obama is one of the great Presidents of U.S. history, even when he's a little right of center from my personal perspective.

The largest fault of the U.S.A. is that maybe 40% of our population support authoritarian candidates. They want strong leaders, and their idea of a strong leader is someone who will tell people they don't like what to do, in both domestic and foreign policy.

The U.S.A. is not, nor has it ever been, a "western" style social democracy.

If there is any faction of the U.S. population I find dangerous, it's the affluent and wealthy white men who don't want to admit women or minorities into their club. These are the men who supported and voted for Trump, or equally as wretched, didn't vote at all.

Disillusionment is no excuse.

The Republican Party has the affluent and wealthy fascist vote locked in. The Democratic Party ought to be the party for everyone else.

I reject the premise of the original post. If you are looking for scapegoats, look first to the owners of our mass media. They are the ones who gave Trump a free ride.

[DemocraticWing]

86. They said civil rights protestors were all Soviets too.

These types of attacks on Left values (in this case being anti-war and pro-environment, among other things) are so disingenuous as to raise the question as to why somebody would actually believe them. Are you so incapable of realizing that liberalism is a capitalist ideology which will always receive criticism from the Left? Not everything has to do with Putin!

[JHan]

92. Comparing civil rights to this?

The story is about confirmation bias. If you want to use the Civil Rights movement to fish for an analogy, what many progressives did last year is akin to MLK not wanting to work with LBJ because LBJ was from the South and had connections to DixieKKKrats. Which would have meant no civil rights legislation.

The article is about the ways progressives empower The Right, and how voting recklessly threatens the progressive agenda. With Trump as President we will see a rise in Authoritarianism which will embolden RWingers all over the Globe because Trump will be leader of the most powerful country on the planet.

When we equate the little compromises our Politicians make in the battleground of legislative politics with the perfidy of Republicans, we've lost sight of the prize. And our Enemies knew how to get the Left to cannibalize itself, and now our core values are under threat with willing accomplices on the left.

Time for the BS to be called out for what it is.

[Blue_Tires]

88. Hate to say I told you so, but...

Last edited Fri Jan 13, 2017, 01:47 PM - Edit history (1)

But the past 18 months have seen a noted spike in information warfare aimed at gulling the Bernie Bros and Occupy-besotted alternative-media set, which saw Clinton as more of a political danger than it did Trump.

I've never wanted to name names and call out specific DUers so badly in my life...

[Skittles]

103. yup

gullible ASSHOLES

[Rex]

93. Neo-liberal fodder.

Liberal democracy my ass.

[killbotfactory]

95. Yep. The only reason to oppose US military adventurism is if you are a Putin lapdog.

What's a polite way to say "fuck off with this shit"?

[Dems to Win]

96. I remember Gary Webb, CurveBall, Judith Miller, babies thrown out of incubators

Walter Pincus of the Washington Post so ridiculed the idea that the CIA was helping import cocaine from the Central America, I concluded Pincus is a CIA asset. I have no more trust of the Washington Post now that it's owned by Jeff Bezos.

I don't trust Putin or Trump, or the CIA or the Washington Post or the New York Times. People around here used to agree with my skepticism toward all of them.

I know that I have no idea what's going on here with this Russia hysteria. Far as I can tell, they are all lying, all for their own reasons.

If RT is the only network that will air Thom Hartmann, that's where I'll watch him. Thom is an intelligent, well-informed commentator and he says, and I believe him, that he has full editorial freedom on his show. Doesn't mean I agree with everything he says, or take his word as gospel.

I continue to respect the work done by Robert Parry and The Nation.

It does not give me warm fuzzies that American troops have now entered Poland. I don't know what's going on between the US and Russia, but I do know I don't want WWIII.

Scary times. So convenient to discredit 'the left' as Putin-lovers. An entire swath of opposition to Trump and the military industrial complex, swept off the board from 'respectable' discussion.

[yardwork]

97. Saw this all over DU.

[azmom]

105. You're either with us or you're with the terrorists!

or with Putin in this case.

[baldguy]

115. You either support Democrats or you don't. And so, we got Trump getting sworn in next Fri.

How's that workin' out for ya?

The next 4 years are going to be a fricken' disaster, and the people who end up living under a bridge eating rats will be the considered lucky ones.

[kentuck]

107. I don't know about that?

It's sort of like trying to prove a negative.

How do we know that all the Bernie supporters or the Jill Stein supporters would have voted for Hillary or would have stayed home? We simply can only guess.

[Maru Kitteh]

113. Putin's/RT's coverage of Comrade Stein read like a set of love letters

And the JPR crowd is still eating it up.

"Played" makes it sound so past tense. He is playing them still. He won them, BIGLY.

[TomCADem]

123. K&R!